Wealthy Icelandic Couple Sued over NYC Hotel’s Ikea Kitchen

by Jessica MCILHINNEY on February 26, 2010

A rather wealthy Icelandic couple in New York is being sued for the installation of a cheap Ikea kitchen in one of the Gramercy Park Hotel’s rooms. Ingibjorg Palmadottir and Jon Asgeir Johannesson own two of the apartments in this building - one is a full-floor co-op and the other is a duplex penthouse above.

Last year, the couple rented out the 16th floor, which were previously two apartments, to the Paramount Realty Group, who is now suing them for $52,000 - partially because of the kitchen. The group also claims that the couple was throwing chicken wings onto the terrace, while the $26,000 a month unit also had faulty air conditioning, missing appliances, a leaky shower unit, a cracked window, among other things.

Paramount Realty Group is said, in some reports, to be an unnamed couple using the company name. In their suit, they say that due to the delay of renovations, they are forced to use the bathroom for a kitchen. It’s been noted that a kitchen was installed on June 15, which was even rendered ugly by Johannesson. They say that the kitchen is manufactured by Ikea, which they say is generally known for low budget furniture. The suit adds that the kitchen didn’t rise to the level of what would be suitable for a property at 50 Gramercy Park North, and after less than year it has already deteriorated to conditions that are unacceptable for the rent they are paying.

Due to all the problems the tenants were having, they asked for a decrease in the cost of rent, according to the suit. However, they were denied. It’s been revealed that the landlord couple have hit hard times in their finances, as much of the assets in Johannesson’s Baugur company were swallowed by the government to cover their debt. They had split the 16th floor back up into two apartments and put their penthouse up for sale because of this.